Finding "Value" in your purchases

[maddythebeagle]

Seems to be an ongoing response by some folks here....not exactly against spending money, but just dont see anything worth buying....

So my question is what recent purchase (ongoing service or something more than 100 bucks) did you make that you did with little "buyer's remorse" that you found to have a lot of value for you?....

 

[W2R]

Buy art!! It doesn't have to be expensive to mean something to you.

I spent $125 on a 16" Italian marble statue of Napoleon that I found in a local antique store about a year or fifteen months ago.

The statue depicts courage and indomitable spirit. I find it to be inspiring and a wonderful object to gaze upon if I feel psychologically "beaten down" after a day in the working world.

I have NO buyer's remorse. I doubt I would ever find other artwork with which I felt such a connection. I do not care what it is made of, or if there are more of them out there - - this is not an investment but something that enriches my daily experiences in life.

Frank understands. If I tell him I haven't really been doing anything, he says, "Oh, so you and Nappy have been communing lately, eh?"

 

[LOL!]

A couple of dinners last week, the week before, the week before, .....
A new laptop. Tickets to a college basketball game. New garage door opener. Etc.

 

[flipstress]

Not recently, in August 2004, I bought a DVD player, stereo receiver/tuner, speakers, and projector so we could watch movies on a big screen. I spent close to $2,000.

We don't go to moviehouses anymore, except for the occasional annual film-fest movie. We reserve and borrow DVD's from the public library. It's great!

Our 18-year old TV finally broke in December. We're not replacing it as of now--maybe someday, but we don't miss any of the shows we lackadaisically used to watch. We never had many channels anyway and didn't subscribe to cable channels.

 

[Outtahere]

Dh and I don't watch a lot of TV but if we do have our favorites we don't want to miss. Several times we've had to stop watching a program when they changed the time or placed it against another program we liked. The last straw was a change to a later time slot that made it impossible to watch one particular show that we both enjoy. I don't get enough sleep as it is and staying up was not an option so I finally broke down and ordered Comcast DVR service. There might be better options out there but this was the easiest for us and we've both very happy with it.

 

[Zoocat]

I don't tend to buy electronic gadgets, but recently I bought an iPOD Nano and I LOVE IT.

 

[Moemg]

My Toshiba Laptop .Love it !

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

most things to me are just more things to clean. so there's hardly a stick of furniture or nicknack here for which i put out money. the few big ticket items i've purchased are mostly utilitarian: computers, bicycles.

pretty much the only ornament in my life is the rehab i did on this house & the creation of my garden into which i've invested maybe 10% of it's current replacement cost and out of which i get much satisfaction. i don't recall ever having buyer's remorse, or at least not for anything that i didn't already return, with the exception of maybe a few impulse shirt buys.

i have an upcoming car purchase which is taking a lot of self-convincing. i'm having pre-buyer's remorse but i think i will find great value in it as i'm considering a few years of road trips. i'm playing all sorts of justification games in my head, going as far as considering buying a following less expensive car with what's left of this upcoming expansive car and so thinking of it as a 10-year purchase instead of a 5-year one.

on the other hand, as i really prefer not spending money, i'm also considering not getting a car, selling the house, living in thailand and using mass transportation or scooter so you can see just how conflicted i am.

 

[UncleHoney]

My most recent pruchase was an Epson 4990 scanner. Good for slides, negatives and photos. I'm in the process of archiving hundreds of old family photographs and over 5000 slides. Some of the photographs date to 1861 and the slides date back to 1942.

In addition to the scanner I spent almost a thousand on archival quality storage boxes and albums to keep the collection safe for the next few hundred years.

Interesting what I found in the old slides, me on my first fishing expedition. Nothing like the royal treatment, getting your grandmother to bait the hook. From the look on my face I must not have been into worms back then. Bet CT has to bait his own hooks.

 

[Texas Proud]

Yes, there is something in value....

I bought an Acura TL that cost in the mid $30s, but love the car even though I don't drive it much... wanted a 6 speed.... still drive my only 95 to the bus...

Another time I went to the US Open tennis tournament... the first year I bought a 'cheap' ticket, but was so high it was not interesting.. the next year paid $100 to sit where you could see me on TV behind the players... it was well worth the extra money to be 'in the action'... and since it only happens once in a long time.... is really not that bad..

I bowl every week which cost $17 per week plus drinks etc... and love it.. but still can't see paying $30 to $100 per month for cable TV... to each his own..

 

[LeatherneckPA]

The Suzuki V-Strom motorcycle that I will use to referee bicycle races starting next month.

My most recent acquisition, a Sig Sauer P-229 auto pistol in .357 Sig.

Other than that I can't think of a big ticket item I've sprung for in probably two years.

 

[frayne]

Bought a used 05 Yamaha FJR 1300 Sport Touring Bike, and going to take it to Key West Next month.

 

[flipstress]

UncleHoney, what a great picture!

I get sentimental sometimes and I would like to scan the old photos of my parents, grandparents, uncles, and aunts. But I have no kids, so to whom would I leave them?

I don't really know if any of my nieces and nephews would treasure them. Edited to add: Still, preserving those old images is something on my to-do-someday list.

 

[Martha]

UncleHoney, what a great picture!

I get sentimental sometimes and I would like to scan the old photos of my parents, grandparents, uncles, and aunts. But I have no kids, so to whom would I leave them?

I don't really know if any of my nieces and nephews would treasure them. Edited to add: Still, preserving those old images is something on my to-do-someday list.

I am sentimental and am in the process of scanning old family pictures. Uncle Honey's grandma looks suspiciously like one of my grandmas. It's that iron gray hair.

I only have one niece by blood. I don't know that she will care about the scanning project. Kind of sad to me that my family is disappearing.

 

[UncleHoney]

I am sentimental and am in the process of scanning old family pictures. Uncle Honey's grandma looks suspiciously like one of my grandmas. It's that iron gray hair.

I only have one niece by blood. I don't know that she will care about the scanning project. Kind of sad to me that my family is disappearing.

Isn't it interesting how grandmas start to all look alike. You would have really like my grandma, she was a LBYM person that had a real zest for life.

My grandfather passed away just 4 years after the above picture was taken when my grandmother was just 58 years old. He left her a small fortune in life insurance and stocks and over the years she made it grow. She lived a long and fruitful life and died a very rich woman at the age of 97.

I hope your niece takes an interest in the old family pictures. I'm in the same situation but I have two nieces that are very interested in the old family photos. I got the scanner so I could share the wealth of family history with them.

This is a picture of my grandfather (he took the above picture of me). He was an engineer and this picture says it all about what he did for a living. He designed and built natural gas compressor stations for Columbia Gas. He is on the right. He was a real gentleman and a fantastic gardener too. Fabert F Fisher, 1894-1956.

 

[Buckeye]

$29 garlic roaster from Costco. Roasts 3 heads of garlic in 27 minutes. Yumm!

 

[Donzo]

Since retiring - I have been tracking down old HS and college friends and long lost family. We have been sharing old pics via E mail and I have been scanning/organizing aboat load of old pics from several stages of my life....it is fun...and I still feel young by the way.

Big ticket purchase that could bring on remorse - I have been looking at the new Canam Renegade quad - the wildest ride for the woods yet.......maybe when my property in SD sells?....

If you are curious just search CanAm Renegade quad

 

[VoyT]

I don't really know if any of my nieces and nephews would treasure them. Edited to add: Still, preserving those old images is something on my to-do-someday list.

Give it a try ... the nieces and nephews may not be interested now, but perhaps when they get older, it may mean more to them.
I've been sorting through the old photos too. Fortunately, I have a number of cousins that I can send them off to. Most have been appreciative.

Ah, yes, new purchases. A garage door opener ... well worth the $$$, since the old one was growing increasingly balky.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

If you are curious just search CanAm Renegade quad

nice. and that spyder looks very fun. too bad it's not faster than a cop's radio. i'm pretty sure i'd be getting some tickets on that.

 

[BUM]

Finally broke down and parted with 30something dollars to buy a new palm sander, with the expensive new fangled blue 3M sandpaper. My project is refinishing all the interior doors in the house including hinges and knobs.

Boy, this thing is a honey. Two doors done and they really look good. About seven more to go.


I asked my brother why he would possibly want a Mercedes 600SL. He said, "Because they don't make a 700". :

 

[Billy]

Toshiba laptop and air tickets to Chapala, Mexico and California to see family and friends.

Otherwise, we don't have a lotta stuff. 8)

Akaisha
Author, The Adventurer's Guide to Early Retirement

 

[Sarah in SC]

The (very) short list of purchases that still delight me everytime I think about them:
the 1976 Argosy Airstream Motorhome
the electric gate opener
the 2x week personal trainer (outrageously expensive)
the iPod
the 8 meg digital camera
the 3-month sailing trip to the Bahamas that started us on the path to FIRE

I find it very hard to spend money on new stuff and will agonize over a purchase for a long time before biting the bullet.

Sarah

 

[shiny]

We got our GPS for the car - a Magellan, we LOVE it! We use it on road trips and also around town. It was totally worth the money.

 

[segfault]

We got our GPS for the car - a Magellan- 3 years ago before the prices started coming down. Doesn't matter that we spent a lot on it, we LOVE it! We use it on road trips and also around town. It was totally worth the money.

Glad you said that. I just ordered a Garmin Nuvi 360. Not sure if I'll have buyer's remorse or not.

Other recent large purchase was a 20" Apple iMac in February. I usually replace my desktop machine every 3 years (which is a long time for a computer nerd), and the old Dell PowerEdge was due for replacement. Very happy with the iMac.

 

[rockyj]

Buy art!!

I'll second that. Hands down, the most "spendthrift" items around our house, about which I have no remorse and which provide continual enjoyment are art objects (or similar). Some were quite inexpensive (small ceramics from Mexico). Some not particularly so (watercolors/pastels/ sculpture, a wonderful kaleidescope we got a while back, some tiffany lanp repros). Some are not at all cheap (kinetic yard sculpture, a couple of oriental rugs). We do look for value in such purchases, as defined by things we really appreciate and expect to have around for a long time. We don't feel we "pay through the nose" for anything. But neither do we delude ourselves by thinking of them as investments in any monetary sense. They're just things that give us pleasure to be around on an ongoing basis. So yes to art (and also travel, I guess).

On the other hand, I can't see any point in paying more than is needed for commodity items like
food, clothes, cars, or other stuff you just use up in your life. We've got modest tastes in those areas, and we also go really basic on electroncis, appliances, or other lifestyle/household gadgets. Ongoing LBYM allows us to splurge now then on the other stuff.